What’s New in Business

You can’t win a fight with your client and 49 other rules for providing great service

by Tom Markert, HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.

Customer service is what often differentiates why a person chooses between two competitors. When they get great customer service from one and average from the other the first company is the one who will get and keep the customer.

Tom Markert shares 50 rules with us that will help us to become the company who gets and keeps all of the customers they desire. Among the rules are: Stick to your allotted time, Go coach class and Empower clients with self-sufficiency. Using these three examples we learn to value our clients time as much as we value ours, planning ahead to make sure our presentations take only the time allowed will give us an advantage over
others who don’t acknowledge the importance of time commitments. When traveling and we go coach class it shows our clients that we spend the money necessary for the trips needed but don’t overcharge our customers so we can afford to go first class. An example of allowing customers self-sufficiency is the banking industry’s use of ATMs. The customers can satisfy their needs whenever the need hits not just during normal business hours. Empowering our customers to deal with their own issues frees us to do even more for the customer while allowing them a strong sense of power when they choose to do business with us.

These fifty rules given in two and three page descriptions will allow you to focus on things you can do to improve customer service in your business. Pick one at a time and see the impressive results that can happen when you put the customer first in your business.

Juggling Elephants: An Easier Way to Get Your Big, Most Important Things Done—Now!

By Jones Loflin and Todd Musig, Portfolio, 2007.

Ever feel like you are trying to juggle too many things at once and none of them are turning out the way you want? If you ever feel like your life is a three-ring circus Juggling Elephants will help you decide what to pursue to maximize your time and your energy.

This business parable relates the story of Mark who has promised to take his daughter to the circus and finds it comes to town just when he is busiest. He makes the time for his daughter and realizes that his life is like the three-ring circus he is watching. He has an epiphany when he realizes that the ringmaster is what is keeping everything functioning so smoothly. He meets a man who becomes his mentor and helps him determine how best to keep everything in his life balanced and working for him. Everyone has three rings in their lives which include work, family and relationships, and personal time.

Mark soon comes to realize that the most important part of the three-ring circus is the ringmaster and that is the role he plays in managing what happens in his life every day. A ringmaster who spends the right amount of time and energy on making sure each of the rings gets the time and energy it needs to thrive. He needs to determine which focus he needs to have at all times. Balance in the three areas keeps him energized and committed to succeeding while still having fun.

Mark becomes so adept at managing his commitments that he starts mentoring those around him to benefit from his analogies and experiences.